You've made the decision to rebuild your website, or maybe you're looking to set up your first website. The first question that you ask yourself is "Should I do it myself or should I hire someone?". For some, you might be able to do a good job. For most people, this is a disaster in the in the making! To make things worse, many people go to one of those "build a website in 20 minutes without knowing what you are doing" site and hope to get value.

Let's look at the pro's of the DIY model first. Well, it's cheap! that's great, especially in this economy. Just remember, you get what you pay for! Your website projects an image about you and your business, just like a business suit. Would you make your own business suit (tailors &amp; fashion designers aside) or would you buy the best you can afford. Maybe you can't afford the top of the line tailored Italian suit, but you can do better than sewing it yourself. Now a design is not the only consideration, functionality counts, A website is more than a logo, some text and some pretty colors on a screen and it takes more than expertise with a web site generator tool.

Looking at the flip side, the list is enormous so I'll only touch on the most important

Using one of the cookie cutter tools will get you a copy cat site, there will be many other businesses that look the same

You won't attract visitors because you don't know much if anything about SEO. What's SEO? I rest my case</li>

Your website needs to change often to keep visitors coming back, selection 1 of 3 options through the cookie cutter tool won't give you what you need

Using flash and stock graphics won't help you with Google and Bing searches.</li>

So why should you use a professional web designer? Experience! A good designer is not a tool jockey, a good designer thinks business and marketing, they eat and breathe technology and they understand enough psychology to get into the minds of visitors to your site. Combining all of this a good web designer will design and build a website on a technology platform that positions you and your business for the future.

How do recognize a good professional designer? Easy you might say, after all, doesn't your neighbor's kid develop websites? Look for these key talents

Business experience - does the designer understand your business, or business in general? Remember, the designer is part of your marketing team, NOT a tool jockey

Technical expertise - that's expertise not experience. Using a tool to generate a website is not the same as creating a website. The former is not much better than doing it yourself, you need some one who may leverage an open source system to keep the cost down but can write or enhance the programs. Not everyone can do this!

Web experience - writing code to appear on a website is easy but can the designer create a pleasant experience for your visitor or will it be a nightmare? Ask them to show you what they have done before. A good web designer is also a bit of a psychologist; they understand what a visitor wants from a web site and how they go about trying to get it. Not a trivial task! A website doesn't come with instructions and you don't get to stand over the visitor to guide them. A good web designer can do that.

Invest in a professional, you'll get what you pay for

For some more ideas, feel free to explore my website. give me a call to discuss how I might help you and your business